In 1779, Crompton invented a device called the spinning mule for
making cotton fabric and Roberts later perfected
it. Gladwell posits that Jobs was less like Crompton, the
innovator, and more like Roberts, a tweaker.

From the article:

The first portable digital music players came out in 1996.
Apple introduced the iPod, in 2001, because Jobs looked at the
existing music players on the market and concluded that they
"truly sucked...." I’ll know it when I see
it. That was Jobs’s credo, and until he saw it his
perfectionism kept him on edge.

Regardless of your own take on the innovator vs. tweaker
question, Gladwell's article provides an excellent look into
Steve Jobs' character without the same time commitment as
Isaacson's 630-page biography.